Monday, February 11, 2008

Patients who are younger and depressed and have made a suicide attempt within a month prior to a media report of a celebrity suicide are at increased risk of a subsequent suicide attempt. The increase was almost 12 times higher than subjects with no previous attempt, 8 times higher to those with a suicide attempt within a half year, and further to 2 to 3-fold among those with a suicide attempt of longer than a half year.

Factors influencing the risk of media influences

Age under 55 years

Previous suicidal behavior

Presence of depression

438 Depressive patients from psychiatric outpatient clinics of 6 medical centers in Taiwan were interviewed by psychiatrists. They were interviewed for suicide attempts or suicidal thoughts, psychiatric diagnosis and the clinical status of the patients depression before the first media report was assessed.

About one third of the respondents said that the reporting had a negative influence on their subsequent suicidal thoughts and attempts. In 5.5% there was a suicide attempt.The media influence reached it's peak at 40 days.

About Me

Dr Shock is a pseudonym for a psychiatrist working in a University Hospital. His main topics of interest are the treatment of depression and electro convulsive therapy. Other subjects for this personal blog are research, article reviews, book reviews and education. He loves computers and Internet.